TORONTO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia Chief Executive Brian Porter said on Wednesday the bank’s potential acquisition of BBVA’s retail business in Chile was a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

The bank was currently undertaking due diligence on the business, which has a market value of about $2.1 billion, Porter said. “These opportunities don’t come along very often,” he said at the Scotiabank Financials Summit.

Scotiabank, which has the biggest foreign presence of any Canadian bank, is focusing its international strategy on the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc comprising Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.

The bank said last month that its capital strength, which is the strongest of Canada’s major banks, gave it “flexibility to grow and invest.” (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Frances Kerry)